About Me

My general areas of interest are Empirical Software Engineering (ESE) and Data Mining. Specifically, I am currently studying conclusion instability in ESE and finding solutions to privacy issues in Software Engineering.

My research so far has shown that less data (as low as 10% of original data) can make comparable and sometimes better models for defect prediction or classification. Additionally, I have studied cross-company defect prediction (CCDP) and confirmed that despite previous work, CCDP can be successful when the training data is filtered.

This research in CCDP led to a focus on privacy issues in Software Engineering. In particular, privacy issues are clear with CCDP since it requires data-sharing. I've studied what makes a good privacy algorithm for software engineering data and have shown that privacy can be achieved with little degradation to utility or efficacy of defect-prediction models.

Position

  • PostDoc Researcher
    Lero - The Irish Software Engineering Research Center at the University of Limerick
    (2014 - 2018)

Education

  • West Virginia University
    PhD Degree in Computer Science, 2014

  • West Virginia University
    Masters Degree in Computer Science Earned, 2010

  • Coppin State University
    Bachelors Degree in Computer Science Earned, 2008

Awards

  • WVU Chancellor Scholar
    Provides funding for PhD studies, (2011 - 2014)

  • MDOT Fellow
    From Maryland Department of Transportation, (June 2007 - December 2007)

  • Howard Hughes Fellow
    Summer internship at Johns Hopkins University - Analysing Neuro-data, (Summer 2005)

  • Honors College of Coppin State University
    Provided funding for Undergraduate studies (August 2004 - December 2007)

Activities

  • PROMISE Repository (June 2012 - present)
    Maintenance of data-sets in the repository

  • PROMISE Conference (2011 and 2012)
    Provided admin support on handling the publications

  • Colloquium XII For Aspiring Minority Doctoral Candidates
    Served on student panel at this event answering questions about Student life and experience as a Doctoral Student.